F1 >>> nEWs
under cross-examination at the High
Court in London, Bernie ecclestone
has rebuffed suggestions that he
paid a bribe to ensure he stayed in
control of Formula One.
ecclestone said he made a
payment to avoid being reported
by Gribkowsky to the authorities
over his tax affairs. “I wanted to
get rid of [Gribkowsky] making silly
statements,” ecclestone told the
court in testimony that also inferred
he was “shaken down” by the
German banker.
Gribkowsky was last year
convicted of accepting a $44 million
bribe from ecclestone, although
the Briton’s legal team maintains
the payment was a consultancy
package.)
Former F1 shareholder and
German media company Constantin
Medien has alleged that in 2005
the F1 supremo initiated a “corrupt
bargain” with Gribkowsky to ensure
that BayernLB's 47 percent stake
in Formula One stake was sold to
ecclestone’s preferred applicant,
effectively blocking potential bids
from Rothschild Bank, Hutchison
Whampoa, and BlueWater
Communications Holdings.
A separate $650 million lawsuit
was filed by those potential bidders
in 2012. The current London case,
brought by Constantin Medien,
sees the German media firm suing
ecclestone and several other
defendants for up to $144 million,
claiming F1 was undervalued by the
BayernLB deal.
In representing Constantin Medlin,
Philip Marshall QC grew increasingly
irritated with ecclestone’s responses
under cross-examination.
“It doesn't make any sense,”
Marshall said in court. “You are in
a situation where you are being
asked to pay millions of dollars over
a threat that may cause you tax
problems. That’s just something you
fabricated. You have made it up.”
When Marshall questioned
whether ecclestone regarded “the
payment of bribes to people who
are not public officials as acceptable”
the 83-year-old replied: “I will have
to think about that... I wish I had
thought about it before actually...
You’ve had months to look through
all the documents and pick out
points. I’ve been in lots of different
countries and haven’t had the
opportunity to do that.”
On Thursday, the second day
of cross-examination, Marshall
characterized ecclestone as one
prone to bribery; citing $10 million
payments from Valper Holdings
– a subsidiary of ecclestone’s
family trust – that were made to
eddie Jordan, Alain Prost, and
Tom Walkinshaw to ensure their
respective teams signed the 1998
Concorde Agreement.
“[Jordan, Prost and Walkinshaw]
were paid to ensure their teams
did sign. Isn’t that right?” asked
Marshall.
“Yes”, ecclestone replied. “They
were paid to sign the Concorde
Agreement and that’s what they did.”
BERNIE TAKES THE STAND
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